The Great Wall of China Tour

On Sunday we went on a tour to see the Great Wall of China.  Definitely one of the things on my bucket list.  Originally our tour was supposed to start at the Forbidden City and then we would go to the wall in the afternoon.  However, because of the National Day holiday we went to the wall first thing in the morning.  Our guide was worried that we would get caught up in too much traffic in the afternoon.

The Mutianyu section of the wall is about 70 km (44 miles) northeast of Beijing and took less than 90 minutes.

The Great Wall has a long history in China.  It began as a series of fortifications, from east to west, as a defensive barrier to protect against invasions from the various nomadic groups for Eurasia.  Some of these fortifications date back as far as 7 BC.  Eventually, the fortifications were joined together, reinforced, and became what we know as the Great Wall of China.

In 1987 the wall became a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Mutianyu section is one of the best-preserved parts of the wall.  The wall here was built primarily with granite.  This portion of the wall has 22 watchtowers.

The wall was awesome!  We got there early in order to avoid the National Day rush and we were among the first people of the day.

We took a cable car up to the 14th watchtower and went on to a couple of other towers.

On a nearby hillside is 忠于毛主席 which translates to Loyalty to Chairman Mao.




I'm so glad we got here early.  We were able to take photos with very few people around.  Had we come later I'm sure it would have been more like the "Great Wall of Tourists".

The only thing that took me by surprise was the width of the wall.  It was only 4 or 5 metres (13 - 16 feet) wide.  In my mind I guess I always pictured the wall being wider.  Mind you, I'm not complaining at all.  I just can't believe that I finally made it to the wall.  Another something to mark off of my bucket list.